Post by Jack on Dec 12, 2017 22:12:25 GMT -6

The Source of Magic: Nodes

Around here, there is only one source of magic. Of course, things can be magical, but there is only one source of magic players can use to do magic of their own.

The source of magic is called a “node”. They're a rare spherical manifestation of pure magical energy. There are 9 kind of nodes, four elemental (fire, water, wind, earth), four divine (pure, tainted, order, chaos), and a special “hollow” node that is not associated with any element. Beyond that, there are three power levels for nodes: basic, lesser, and greater.

Though nodes are the only source of magic, there are a few places to find nodes in the world. Most commonly, nodes are found deep in the heart of magical places. A water node, for example, may be found at the center of a great body of water, or an earth node deep in caverns within the earth. There's also a process for making your own node from magical materials, but the price is steep.

Once you have a node, you have a few choices on what to do with it. If you want to use it's magical power for yourself, you have two choices. You may “swallow” the node, instantly gaining it's power, or you may “tap” it, slowly borrowing its power. Both options will be explained in more detail below.

Post by Jack on Dec 12, 2017 22:12:37 GMT -6

Magic Points (MP)

Magic points, hereafter referred to as MP, are a measure of your magical power. Most people in the world have 0 MP, even if they have some magical objects or abilities. The only way for your character to gain MP is to use a node, either tapping or swallowing it. Some creatures also have MP due to special abilities.

Using a node, all of the MP you gain is of the same element of the node. A basic fire node, for example, will give you 3 fire MP. You cannot use your fire MP on water spells; that just doesn't make sense!

Tapping a Node

Tapping a node is by far the more “safe” option. It's also more diverse. If you tap a node, you gain MP equal to it's power level. (3 for basic, 6 for lesser, and 9 for hollow.)

The great thing about tapping nodes is that you can tap many different nodes, casting spells from multiple elements. The bad thing about tapping nodes is that you have to find a lot of them to get a lot of power. If you are patient, however, this method will ultimately result in more power.

Swallowing a Node

Swallowing a node is a much quicker way to gain a lot of power. When you swallow a node, it becomes a part of you, and you instantly gain 25 MP of that element, no matter what power level the node was.

Swallowing a node makes you a magical being, like an elemental. You gain new features related to your element, including a resistance to your element. However, you can never tap another node, and will never gain more than 25 MP or spells of different elements.

Creature Magic

You may notice that some creatures can cast magic of their own. They have a fixed number of MP that never changes. (3 for Magical Touch, 10 for Magical, and 30 for Enigmatic.)

Creature magic is slightly different than node magic, though it uses the same basic system. Creature magic is not inherently elemental, meaning you can spend a creature's MP on spells of any element(s).

Non-natural (from the Labs) creatures cannot tap into nodes, even those that are sentient or magical.

And the warden sangCome on somebodyWhy don't you runOl' Red's itchin' to have a little funGet my lanternGet my gunRed'll have you treed before the mornin' comes

Post by Jack on Dec 12, 2017 22:12:48 GMT -6

Now that you have MP, what are you going to do with it? Why, learn spells, of course!

If you've swallowed a node, this is easy for you. You automatically know all of the spells of your element (and purely hollow spells)!

If you're tapping into a node, you need to learn some spells. You may know as many MP worth of spells as you have MP to spend. So if you have 3 MP, you may learn 3 MP worth of spells. You may also learn additional spells by spending skill points, though you can't learn spells you couldn't cast.

If you're really clever, you may craft your own spells that only you can use! Unfortunately, this option is only available to those who tap nodes.

Creatures with magic have a set spell list that is determined along with their base stats, which is recorded in your spell library. Like the default for node users, creatures with magic may know as many MP worth of spells as they have MP to spend. Creatures cannot learn new spells, so choose carefully!

A creature with magic will know how to use its magic when it wants to, but it doesn't know how to use the spells on command. If you would like to teach your pets to use their spells on command, you must use TP equal to the MP cost to do so. Proceed with caution! Magical creatures can be very dangerous, especially if they're not intelligent enough to understand how powerful they are.

And the warden sangCome on somebodyWhy don't you runOl' Red's itchin' to have a little funGet my lanternGet my gunRed'll have you treed before the mornin' comes

Post by Jack on Dec 12, 2017 22:12:57 GMT -6

Casting Spells

Now you have MP and you know some spells, so the next thing you have to do is, well, cast them!

If you are tapping a node, you must have it on your person to use it. Be careful with your node, for if it is stolen or lost, so is your ability to use magic! Those who swallow nodes don't have this problem, of course, as their node is a part of them.

Casting a spell is pretty easy. If it is your turn in battle, instead of attacking, defending, moving, or using an ability, you can instead cast a spell! Outside of battle, you can cast a spell the same way you use an ability or move.

When you cast a spell, you expend the spell's MP cost from your total. When you run out of MP, then you can't cast any more magic so use it sparingly! You must wait 24 hours after using a spell to regain your MP from that spell.

Spells are so powerful that they cannot be dodged, and can only be countered by a spell caster or an ability that would stop them. For example, resistances or immunities to the type of damage would work as normal. You wouldn't use Fireball on a creature with Fire Immunity!

Wait, counter? That's right, a fellow spell caster can counter your spell! To counter a spell, you must expend the same amount of MP as your opponent, in an opposite element.

For example, to counter a 3 MP fire spell, you need to spend 3 water MP.

What elements are opposing?

Fire - WaterAir - EarthChaos - OrderLight - DarkHollow - Hollow

And the warden sangCome on somebodyWhy don't you runOl' Red's itchin' to have a little funGet my lanternGet my gunRed'll have you treed before the mornin' comes

Post by Jack on Dec 12, 2017 22:13:07 GMT -6

Swallowing vs Tapping

Still not sure if you want to swallow or tap your new node? Here's a quick list of pros and cons to make it easier!

Tapping

- Gain power more slowly, with limited MP per node.- Can have unlimited MP with enough nodes.- Can tap into many nodes, including different elements.- Can learn many new spells, and even invent your own.- Can cast spells that belong to multiple elements.- Can lose your node, losing your magic.

Swallowing

- Instant 25 MP to spend.- Can't ever lose your node.- Gain a resistance to your element.- Never have to learn spells, since you know all of the ones for your element.- Can only spend MP in your element, and can't use multi-element spells.- Will only ever have 25 MP, and can't tap into additional nodes.

And the warden sangCome on somebodyWhy don't you runOl' Red's itchin' to have a little funGet my lanternGet my gunRed'll have you treed before the mornin' comes

Shoutbox

Morgan: No one knows yet. But I did want to make it clear that the jar itself isn't used for lotine husbandry in any way. c:Jun 5, 2020 4:24:19 GMT -6*

Twilight-Claw: I'm only assuming that it does something similar like a Fungal Beast that infects a Leaf-scatter. (the one with moss and I think it was a pink flower growing on the head.)Jun 5, 2020 4:18:34 GMT -6

Morgan: The lolatic doesn't disappear after one use, and can be reused on the same lotine when it is allowed to 'infect' a lotine- to my knowledge.Jun 5, 2020 1:41:37 GMT -6

Morgan: The only effect/thing that the jar can be used for is to open up into a lolatic. The jar itself has no use in lotine breedings.Jun 5, 2020 1:39:52 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: and the jar is then gone, if with the creature I am more guessing with this the creature doesn't disappear and it has unlimited use.Jun 5, 2020 0:17:55 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Something else I am wondering about with the Lotine breeding is whether one would use the jar the Lolatic comes from in the breeding, or actually the creature itself. I'm assuming with it if its the jar, then it gives people only one shot in a breeding, Jun 5, 2020 0:16:08 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Then using it in my rps is definitely just for the sake of rp's and not for anything additional. Jun 5, 2020 0:12:17 GMT -6

Renathan: There's no additional effect for adding a fish to a magical berry in a lotine breeding. Magical Berry is kinda it's own thing. Adding a fish for roleplay value shouldn't hurt, but it has no effect when used on a magical berry lotine breeding.Jun 4, 2020 22:27:14 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: be just for the sake of rp, and perhaps seeing if it might lent a bigger chance to multiple offspring with unique pattern. X3Jun 4, 2020 15:31:01 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: I think your right on it being unlimited use yeah, although.. *cough* I only found out a couple hours after I started writing that I had yet to buy the fish in question so used the one you could get for free as a replacement, it still was meant to mostly Jun 4, 2020 15:30:59 GMT -6

Riku: From what I loosely understand about the fish is that it isn't one-use, whereas the berry is. I feel like there wouldn't be any consequence of 'using' the fish...which I'd think just ooc wouldn't be counted for whatever rolls or whatever it is that it usesJun 3, 2020 14:14:30 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Thanks for that piece of info Ren! <3 | But would it be allowed for the flavor of the rp if the berry wasn't filling enough for the Lotine? Jun 1, 2020 6:09:21 GMT -6*

Renathan: There is no need to double up on a fish and a magical berry (doesn't change the effect of the berry at all) in a lotine breeding.Jun 1, 2020 6:02:21 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Does anyone know if it is possible to combine both a magical berry and a fish in a Lotine breeding? Or is you can only choose one of them? (right now writing a Lotine breeding) Jun 1, 2020 5:36:49 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: I am still interested in trading it for a green drake. Jun 1, 2020 0:31:33 GMT -6